Front Sway bar question

[cdssolara]

It's a pretty noticeable difference, especially in steering response. I found that it really tightens up the steering, which is pretty numb in stock set-up. When you take a big sweeping curve the car stays very flat; it really feels more like a true sports car. As for the ride, it's a little firmer, but only when one wheel hits a bump and the other doesn't. It shouldn't change how the car feels when you go over speed bumps or other undulations in the road surface that both wheels go over at the same time.

[dbanker]

What would be better:

1. Installing the rear swaybar only.

or

2. Installing the rear swaybar with the front sway bar.

Also- if the front and the rear are installed would it be advisable to use both the whiteline front and rear swaybars...or would the TRD rear swaybar and the whiteline front swaybar work better?

[impactX]

What would be better:

1. Installing the rear swaybar only.

or

2. Installing the rear swaybar with the front sway bar.

Also- if the front and the rear are installed would it be advisable to use both the whiteline front and rear swaybars...or would the TRD rear swaybar and the whiteline front swaybar work better?

I installed RSB with Eibach and Bilstein Struts... The car is fun... but I still want the front to not sway as much. So I ordered a front whiteline and it's coming my way.

I suggest you getting the TRD rear first. The two settings on TRD are a bonus. If you still want the car the sway less, get the front sway. However, you will experience understeer again once you put on bigger front swaybar.

[adam2562]

Where do you order the Whiteline Sway Bar kit..??? i think we should have a group buy on the Whiteline kit!!! (my 2 cents worth)

[cdssolara]

I got my Whiteline bars from Sean Miller at CTMotorsports.com. He set up a group buy a few months ago, and might be willing to do another one. Check out his website, and you can probably send him a message. One word of caution; if you get involved in a group buy for these, it will take forever to get your bar(s). Whiteline is in Australia, so just the shipping takes awhile. Also, the last group buy was so big that Whiteline didn't have enough bars and had to go through the manufacturing process. It was pretty frustrating for those of us who got them. The bars themselves are relatively inexpensive; less than $100 each even without the group buy. Therefore, the savings won't be very sognificant.

[Guest]

Both pieces are cool upgrades but if you don't corner hard and fast they're eye candy. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

isn't the TRD strut brace eye candy anyway, since the solara already comes with a stock strut brace?

(i have one, btw, simply for eye candy. lol)

[cdssolara]

Both pieces are cool upgrades but if you don't corner hard and fast they're eye candy. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

isn't the TRD strut brace eye candy anyway, since the solara already comes with a stock strut brace?

I don't think it improves structural rigidity over the stock brace. In fact, it looks less rigid than the the stock unit. I believe that the TRD strut brace was designed to go with the supercharger. The supercharger will not fit in the Camry/Solara engine compartment with the stock brace. However, there are some older generation Camry's that did not come with a stock strut tower brace, so the TRD unit is a great upgrade for them. If you already have one, and you don't have a supercharger, there's really no reason to buy one.

[Yanks0114]

Both pieces are cool upgrades but if you don't corner hard and fast they're eye candy. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

isn't the TRD strut brace eye candy anyway, since the solara already comes with a stock strut brace?

I don't think it improves structural rigidity over the stock brace. In fact, it looks less rigid than the the stock unit. I believe that the TRD strut brace was designed to go with the supercharger. The supercharger will not fit in the Camry/Solara engine compartment with the stock brace. However, there are some older generation Camry's that did not come with a stock strut tower brace, so the TRD unit is a great upgrade for them. If you already have one, and you don't have a supercharger, there's really no reason to buy one.

You are correct that there would be no use to upgrade if you are N/A but the TRD strut brace actually is a little more rigid. Not very noticable but it still helps a little, plus as you said before it'll help get over the supercharger.

[cdssolara]

What would be better:

1. Installing the rear swaybar only.

or

2. Installing the rear swaybar with the front sway bar.

Also- if the front and the rear are installed would it be advisable to use both the whiteline front and rear swaybars...or would the TRD rear swaybar and the whiteline front swaybar work better?

The stiffer rear bar only will keep your rear end flatter during cornering, and also reduce some of the Solara's built-in understeer. Upgrading both the front and rear sway bars will enable to entire car to corner much flatter. It really gives you a sense of stability while taking big sweeper curves at high speed. However, it brings more understeer back into the equation. I have noticed that the front bar also gives me better steering response.

I have tried both alternatives, and find that both have their good and bad points. I'm toying with the idea of staying with the Whiteline front bar, and replacing the Whiteline rear bar with the TRD bar on Track setting, which is a little stiffer. I want to maintain the flatter cornering and better steering response, but I also want to reduce the understeer as much as possible. If I decide to do this, I'll post my opinion of the results.

[ToyGuy]

"I have tried both alternatives, and find that both have their good and bad points. I'm toying with the idea of staying with the Whiteline front bar, and replacing the Whiteline rear bar with the TRD bar on Track setting, which is a little stiffer. I want to maintain the flatter cornering and better steering response, but I also want to reduce the understeer as much as possible. If I decide to do this, I'll post my opinion of the results."

Springs, struts, stiff bars....might as well just take them all out and bolt it up rigid...it'll corner about as flat and ride the same

[EricSol]

I also have universal greasable bushings from Energy Suspension that I will use if squeaking becomes a problem. The only problem with the greasables is that the mounting bracket has to be modified and the bushing is wider so getting it on there is more cumbersome.

I installed the Energy non-greasable bushings on the TRD bar and the squeeking is gone(6 months). The black Energy bushings are graphite impregnated. I did have to bend the Energy's brackets to make them fit.

[cdssolara]

"I have tried both alternatives, and find that both have their good and bad points. I'm toying with the idea of staying with the Whiteline front bar, and replacing the Whiteline rear bar with the TRD bar on Track setting, which is a little stiffer. I want to maintain the flatter cornering and better steering response, but I also want to reduce the understeer as much as possible. If I decide to do this, I'll post my opinion of the results."

Springs, struts, stiff bars....might as well just take them all out and bolt it up rigid...it'll corner about as flat and ride the same

Good idea! I'll just turn it into a Solara go-kart.

Seriously, though, the ride is still fine with upgraded springs, struts and rear swaybars. The front swaybars make the front end pretty firm at low speeds, but at higher speeds, the ride is comfortable and very stable. There is so much margin for experimentation because the stock ride is just way too soft.

[BurningSolara]

I just got stuck for over a half in hour in my own drive way lol ( dam* snow). I attempted to plow through a snow pile and it didnt work out to good. So after a hour of shoveling , rocking back and forth, and alot of hot water i got out ( now my check engine light is one *sigh*).

This may sound like a dumb question but......... The clearance of the bar. How much lower does these bars hang past the chassis of car? In a situation like mine does it risk damage? For some strange reason I am always in akward situations that involve me sliding/running over things.

[cdssolara]

The sway bars don't hang below the chassis of the car. Your car already has sway bars in both front and rear. The sway bars being discussed in this thread are aftermarket replacements for the stock sway bars. They are simply a bit thicker than the the stock bars so that they can give the chassis a bit more firmness.

[RedSolaraGuy]

Is there any reason to install lowering springs and struts before you install front and rear sway bars. Would a different order of installation make the other more difficult to do? Thanks a lot.